Creation
The series was originally intended to be a non-canon version of Superman, showcasing his origin and updating it for the 21st century. Soon after, it was decided to adopt the series as canon, and thus it replaced John Byrne's The Man of Steel series as Superman's canonical origin story. [2] The project was given to Mark Waid with the request to make an origin story for Superman set in the 21st century, a series that new readers can understand without any previous knowledge of the character's mythos. This was something Waid had wanted to do since seeing Superman: The Movie for the first time. [3]
By comparison to other origin retellings, Waid wanted some differences. In an attempt to make his character more relatable, his Superman is not infallible, he has problems with his boss, his dry cleaning gets lost and he longs to connect and be accepted. Another difference was having Africa in the origin that, as Waid has it, helps establish Kal-El/Clark as a citizen of the world and demonstrates what kind of journalist he is. [3] The Infinite Crisis storyline altered Superman's history so that Birthright and John Byrne's The Man of Steel mini-series were removed as his canonical origin. This was reinforced by then-monthly Superman writer Kurt Busiek's statement that the post- Infinite Crisis Superman's origin had yet to be established. [4] The new origin was later revealed in the Superman: Secret Origin mini-series. [5]
Publishing history
Development and release
Superman: Birthright was a twelve-issue limited series published by DC Comics from September 2003 to September 2004. [6] The series was written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu with inks by Gerry Alanguilan.
Waid had long expressed a desire to write a definitive Superman origin story. Prior to Birthright, he had been involved in the rejected "Superman 2000" pitch alongside Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, and Tom Peyer, which sought to modernize the character. [7] For Birthright, Waid intended to update Superman for a 21st-century audience, focusing on Clark Kent's journey of self-discovery and his decision to become a hero, rather than presenting him as fully formed from the start. The series was also designed to align comics continuity more closely with the popular television series Smallville , specifically by reintroducing the concept that Lex Luthor and Clark Kent knew each other as teenagers. [8]
Canonical status
The project's position within DC continuity was initially ambiguous. While originally pitched as a standalone or "ultimate" version of the character, DC editorial decided during publication to make Birthright the official origin story of the Superman of "New Earth" (the main DC Universe at the time). [9] This effectively replaced John Byrne's 1986 miniseries The Man of Steel , which had served as the canon origin following Crisis on Infinite Earths .
Waid's retcon reintroduced several Silver Age elements that Byrne had discarded, such as Clark's vegetarianism, the use of the "S" shield as a Kryptonian symbol of hope rather than a family crest, and Superman's ability to see the "aura" of living things (often referred to as "soul vision"). [10]
The series remained the official origin for only a few years. Following the continuity alterations of the 2005–2006 event Infinite Crisis , the status of Superman's origin became unclear. In 2009, DC published Superman: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, which replaced Birthright as the definitive canonical origin, reintegrating the Legion of Super-Heroes and Superboy into Clark's history. [11]
Collected editions
The series has been collected in multiple formats:
Plot
The story begins with a retelling of Superman's origin, where his parents Jor-El and Lara send baby Kal-El away from the planet Krypton before its destruction. The planet's explosion is already under way when they send off the craft into the sky. On a nearby monitor programmed by Jor-El, the screen shows flickering and broken images from the habitable planet for which he has targeted the craft through a time disrupting wormhole. The images break up as they wonder if their son will survive or if anybody anywhere will ever know anything about the heritage of Krypton.
The scene hard cuts to the present day, where mid-20s freelance journalist Clark Kent visits Africa to interview political leader and activist Kobe Asuru, and forms a friendship. Kent is particularly impressed with Asuru's emphasis on family and cultural traditions. During a political rally, Asuru is killed by an unidentified assassin. During the attack, Kent saves scores of potential victims. He also avoids being detected by everyone present as a superpowered being, with the exception of Asuru's younger sister Abena, who survives the incident and becomes a key figure in the political revolution started by her brother.
Afterwards, Clark returns to Smallville, finds the ship that brought him to Earth, and uses it to learn Krypton's history and his own cultural heritage. His mother Martha Kent helps to adapt the Kryptonian clothing and a dramatic flag banner contained in the ship into an indestructible costume for Clark.
Jonathan and Martha both agree that if Clark is going to begin performing super powered rescues, he should develop a separate "human identity" to avoid public harassment and possible attempts at criminal retaliation. They suggest Clark develops an undistinguished everyday persona, wearing unremarkable clothes and assuming informal posture, that in itself would be a dramatic contrast to his essentially unavoidable appearance as a powerful and physically imposing figure during his superpowered rescues. Thus Clark leaves Smallville ready to embark on a public career.
Clark, wearing informal clothes, travels to Metropolis and joins the Daily Planet newspaper, impressing resident star journalist Lois Lane with his reputation and reports from the African battle zones. She is conversely surprised by Kent's midwestern shyness and general social awkwardness.
Shortly after Kent's arrival at the Planet, operating openly as Superman, he battles apparent terrorist helicopters, which cause considerable damage in the city. After discovering that the helicopters originate from LexCorp, Superman travels there and confronts Lex Luthor, who pretends to endorse Superman while attempting to destroy his reputation. Flashbacks reveal that Luthor is a former Smallville friend of Clark who lost his father Lionel and his hair after a wormhole he built malfunctioned and exploded. After leaving Smallville, Luthor has become a billionaire businessman and technological genius, with a high emphasis on extraterrestrial life. Arrogantly wishing to erase his farmland origins, Luthor denies ever having been in Smallville.
Planning to panic the citizenry, Luthor engineers a fake Kryptonian invasion, but Superman stops him and Luthor's schemes are revealed to the world after much of his LexCorp headquarters are destroyed. In the final seconds of the battle, Superman discovers the video monitor invented by Luthor which had managed to make contact with pre-destruction Krypton. He stands before the screen, silhouetted against smoke and flashing lights in the background, and sees the shadowy figures of his parents. They are also obscured with smoke as the planet goes through its final destruction. Jor-El and Lara see the imposing figure of Superman on their monitor, looking at them while clothed in the El Family "S-symbol". Superman views the monitor and says: "Mother, Father, I made it". His parents realize Kal-El has survived as they hoped, so they smile and embrace as Krypton finally explodes.
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